FBI, White House fight over controversial Republican memo
Washington: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has clashed with US President Donald Trump over a Republican intelligence memo, developing the rift between the leader and the agency probing Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The memo apparently accuses the Justice Department and the agency of abusing a surveillance programme known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) during the 2016 election campaign.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday sent a striking signal to the White House, issuing a rare public warning that the memo omits key information that could impact its veracity.
The move set up an unpleasant clash between Wray and Trump, who already has fired one FBI Director and has repeatedly expressed a desire to remove the Attorney General and others connected to the Russia investigation.
The President wants the memo released and told his advisers that he believes it makes the case that the FBI and Justice Department officials acted inappropriately when they sought the highly-classified warrant in October 2016 on campaign adviser Carter Page, the New York Times reported.
"We have grave concerns about the material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy," the FBI said.
On Wednesday, White House chief of staff John Kelly predicted the memo would be released "pretty quick" and that "the whole world will see it".
Trump himself was overheard telling a Republican congressman after the State of the Union address he will "100 per cent" release the memo.
Democrats made a last-minute attempt to halt the process on late Wednesday.
The Justice Department has warned repeatedly that the memo, prepared by Republican staff members on the House Intelligence Committee, is "misleading" and that its release would set a bad precedent for making government secrets public, including sensitive sources of information and methods of intelligence gathering.
FBI officials said the President "was prioritizing politics over national security and is putting the bureau's reputation at risk".
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IPL 2024: RCB qualifies for playoffs, beats Chennai Super Kings by 27 runs
Bengaluru: The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have qualified for the playoffs of IPL 2024 after defeating the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 27 runs in a thrilling match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
RCB, captained by South African cricketer Faf du Plessis, emerged victorious in this crucial match to secure their spot in the playoffs. However, the lost match is tragically significant to Chennai Super Kings' key player M S Dhoni, for whom it is believed to be the last IPL season.
